Base of Operations: Manhattan,
New York City, USA;
formerly Somewhere in the North Bronx,
New York City, USA;
formerly a "Welcome to New York"
billboard

First Appearance: Slingers#0
(December, 1998)

Powers/Abilities: An
aggressive member of the Empire State University wrestling team,
Ritchie Gilmore was given a re-creation of the armor previously worn by
Spider-Man. Powered by a mystically-created cape, the suit granted its
wearer enhanced strength (class 25), durability, and limited flight
abilities. Following its loss, the cape was recreated and the armor
repowered via technological means.

(Slingers#11 (fb) - BTS) - Ritchie
Gilmore grew up in the North Bronx.

(Slingers#2 (fb) - BTS) - As an
Empire
State University student and member of the wrestling team, Ritchie was
selected by the Black Marvel to become the new Prodigy. They soon began
training.

(Slingers#6 (fb)) - Black Marvel
introduced
Ritchie to Johnny Gallo, who had been selected by the Black Marvel to
be his Ricochet.

(Slingers#0) - Donning the Prodigy
suit
given to him by the Black Marvel, Ritchie began training with Johnny (as Ricochet),
Eddie McDonough (as Hornet) and Cassie St. Commons (as Dusk).

(Slingers#0) - Prodigy led the others in
another training session, leaping across rooftops. Acting all business and
cold toward his partners, Prodigy silently left after Dusk stepped off
the roof to her death.

(Slingers#1 (Prodigy
variant))
- Prodigy confronted a drug dealer he'd been tracking. Beating
information on his supplier out of him, Prodigy went down to the Fulton
Fish Market, tearing through armed goons to reach their Maggia-connected boss, "Jimmy Eyes".

(Slingers#1) - Prodigy joined
Hornet and
Ricochet at their billboard hangout, telling them to get in line and
focus on their job or that they would wind up like Dusk (who had, unaware to
her former teammates, mysteriously come back to life). After winning a
wrestling match the following day, giving his pinned opponent an extra
squeeze to remember him by, Prodigy found Hornet and Ricochet on the
ESU campus, taking them to rescue a crazed man from the path of two
runaway trains.

(Slingers#1 (Prodigy
variant))
- Prodigy leapt in front of the path of one of the runaway trains,
planting his feet and lifting the train to slow it. Stopping the train
and tearing a hole for passengers to escape, Prodigy saw the second
train about to fall off the elevated platform. Swooping in, Prodigy
saved several onlookers and continued on his way.

(Slingers#1) - Prodigy leapt
across the
George Washington Bridge to the derelict Atlas Films movie studios
where his benefactor, the Black Marvel, was waiting for him.

(Slingers#2) - After leading
Hornet and
Ricochet to the drain pipes under the newly rebuilt Grand Royale hotel,
Prodigy went above ground, skulking around Jimmy Eyes, who was
overseeing the construction. Patiently following Jimmy Eyes through the
site, Prodigy's cover was blown when Ricochet called for help over
their radios. Prodigy left, destroying the communicator despite
Ricochet's cries for help.

(Slingers#3) - Returning to the
Atlas Films
studio, Prodigy told the Black Marvel of Ricochet and Hornet's apparent
deaths in the tunnels under the Grand Royale. Lauded by the Black
Marvel for his apparent lack of emotion toward his inadequate
teammates, Prodigy leapt away to prepare for the tasks ahead of him.

(Slingers#4) - Prodigy arrived on
the roof
of the new Grand Royale hotel on its opening night. Waiting for the
Black Marvel's signal to leap into action, he was confronted by
Ricochet and Hornet. Prodigy attacked them, threatening to teach them
how to be heroes while beating them senseless. Throwing Ricochet off
the roof, Prodigy tossed Hornet through a dining room window, following
him in. Recalling what he'd seen in the tunnels, a weakened Hornet told
Prodigy he should be looking in the basement. Prodigy left for the
basement, soon confronting Jimmy Eyes and wondering if this was why the
Black Marvel told him to watch the hotel.

(Slingers#5) - As the explosives
that the Black
Marvel had planted throughout the Grand Royale detonated, Prodigy stood
firm against Jimmy Eyes. Hearing the screams of trapped Grand Royale
patrons, Prodigy reluctantly left Jimmy in the basement, arriving just
as Ricochet, Dusk and Hornet confronted the Black Marvel over his
plans to destroy the rebuilt hotel and redeem his greatest
failure as the hero. While the others set about rescuing civilians,
Prodigy kept the hotel from collapsing on itself, giving his cape to
Hornet to protect a child from the flames. Overwhelmed by the
increasing weight, Prodigy apologized to Dusk who told him she wasn't
strong enough to teleport him out. As he began to fall, Prodigy felt
stronger than he'd ever felt before.

(Slingers#6) - Prodigy emerged
from the
rubble, wondering where to go next.

(Slingers#7) - Prodigy arrived
back at his
grandmother's apartment, reflecting on how the days he spent digging
himself out of the rubble felt like years, and how he now saw things
clearly.

(Slingers#8) - Prodigy confronted
four
young gang members, dispatching them easily. Believing himself at the
top of his game, Prodigy saw that a stray bullet hit one of the gang.
Choosing to help her over apprehending the other members, Prodigy vowed
to be a hero the right way.

(Slingers#10) - Joining a meeting at the billboard, Prodigy revealed his survival to Hornet and Dusk.

(New Warriors II#1) - Prodigy and the
others
turned down Speedball's offer to join a relaunched New Warriors. Hornet
and Ricochet laughed in his face at the offer.

(Slingers#10) - The superhero-themed billboard they were on came to life, with various
superheroes emerging from it and attacking Prodigy and the others.
Prodigy fought a giant Mr. Fantastic, holding his own until he was
grabbed by a giant Thing and pulled into the billboard. Prodigy and the
others found themselves before an imprisoned Black Marvel and Mephisto.

(Slingers#11) - Mephisto trapped
Prodigy
and the others, and told them about the deal he made with an ailing Dan
Lyons to reclaim his heroic identity of the Black Marvel. Offering to
free the Black Marvel's soul if the four could forgive him for using
them to further his own ambitions, they argued over what to do. Sent to
face separate trials, Prodigy arrived outside the house he grew up in,
now in flames. Rushing in, he was confronted by a younger version of
himself and unable to move, bound by his cape. Tearing the cape apart,
Prodigy arrived back before Mephisto just as he called for his horde to
test them as a team.

(Slingers#12) - After Dusk cleared
the
battlefield, Prodigy and the others were given the choice to leave
Mephisto's realm. Urging the others to leave while they had the chance,
Prodigy stood by while his teammates set about rescuing the Black
Marvel. Returning to save Ricochet from a false vision of his late
mother, Prodigy removed his cape, telling Mephisto that he'd given up
his hatred of the Black Marvel. With the others making similar
statements, the Black Marvel's soul was saved and they returned to New
York. Prodigy apologized to Dusk, Hornet and Ricochet, and thanked them
for everything, returning home since his grandmother was probably
worrying about him.

(Civil War: Battle Damage Report)
- Prodigy
acquired a replica of his cape and a "technological upgrade" to his
suit to recreate its powers.

(Contest of Champions II#1/All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #10 (Slingers))
- Prodigy
was among the group of heroes teleported off Earth to compete in a
"contest of champions."

(Contest of Champions II#3) -
Prodigy, Dusk, Hornet and Ricochet, collectively referred to as "The Slingers",
were reunited to compete against the New Warriors in a game of basketball. After a
heated match, the Warriors were crowned the victors and
the Slingers
were teleported away.

(Contest of Champions II#5/All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #10 (Slingers))
- The
heroes, including the Slingers, were separately returned to Earth.

(GLA I#2) - Prodigy turned down an
offer to
join the Great Lakes Avengers.

(Civil War: Frontline#2) - Unable to deal
with the looming deadline for superhuman registration, Prodigy got
drunk on a rooftop, drawing a crowd. Eventually getting Iron Man's
attention, Prodigy told him that the Act was fine for him since he had
the money to take care of his loved ones, but that he'd be putting his
family at risk if he unmasked. Iron Man tried to sway Prodigy to his
opinion, but the young hero attacked, leaping on to Iron Man and
pushing him into a billboard.

(Civil War: Frontline#2) - A team
quickly
covered Prodigy with immobilizing foam and loaded him into their
vehicle.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#535 (fb) -
BTS) -
Prodigy was taken to the Negative Zone Prison -- 42 -- created to hold
superhumans refusing to comply with the registration act.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#535) -
Seeing Peter
Parker through the slot on his cell door, Prodigy called for his help,
telling him he shouldn't have been imprisoned because he didn't do
anything.

(Civil War#6) - Prodigy was among
the
prisoners freed from their cells by the Secret Avengers and the
Superhuman Registration Act resistance.

(Civil War#7/Amazing Spider-Man
II#538 -
BTS) - Prodigy took part in the battle between the pro and
anti-registration heroes, spanning from the Negative Zone prison to the
streets of New York. Prodigy's status following the battle is unknown,
as is whether he made the jump from the prison to New York.

(Avengers: The Initiative#13 (fb) - BTS) - Prodigy was released from jail
if he agreed to join the Initiative and issue a public apology for his drunken
battle against Iron Man.

(Avengers: The Initiative#13) - On the bus ride to Camp Hammond, new
recruits Annex, Batwing, Gorilla Girl, Prodigy, and Sunstreak were embarrassed
by the enthusiastic Emery Schaub, and surprised by the lack of enthusiasm of the
residents of Stamford, Connecticut. They were soon greeted at base by
Yellowjacket (secretly the Skrull Criti Noll) and Taskmaster, who code-named
Schaub Butterball. Over the following weeks they were constantly embarrassed by
Schaub, who forced them to undergo extra punishments constantly with his
naivety. They even tried hazing him, but his invulnerability allowed him to
sleep through it. At his press conference, Prodigy gave an unconvincing speech
about his change of mind, putting off questions by reporter Sally Floyd; he
punched a wall in frustration as he walked off-stage only to be chastised by
Yellowjacket. Bored one night, the six trainees decided to sneak off-base,
convincing Schaub to use his powers to help them sneak off the base in a jeep.
They drove to a local beach, built a fire, had beer (except Batwing, who was too
young), and went skinny-dipping (Gorilla Girl in her gorilla form, disappointing
the others). When Sunstreak made a pass at Schaub on the beach because he
couldn't be burned by her, he got upset and drove away with the others in quick
pursuit. They all felt bad when the learned he was willing to take the rap for
them, after Yellowjacket, War Machine, Taskmaster, and Constrictor tracked them
down. Suddenly, King Cobra, Firebrand, MAULER, and Mr. Hyde attacked, seeking to
kill Taskmaster. The recruits leapt into battle despite the warnings of their
instructors and the villains quickly escaped; during the battle, Hyde tossed
Prodigy into Annex. Back at base, Schaub was kicked out of the Initiative,
making his fellow recruits jealous.

(Marvel Apes: Speedball Special#1) - Gorilla Girl woke up new recruit
Speedball, (from the ape universe) when he was having a bad dream. Taskmaster
announced an early training, annoying Ant-Man, who ridiculed Speedball for
waking them all up. Gorilla Girl defended Speedball, who couldn't hit Ant-Man
due to his size-changing powers. She grew defensive when Ant-Man called her
Speedball's girlfriend. As Prodigy scoffed at the fight, Speedball offended
Gorilla Girl by yelling at her and saying they were nothing alike, provoking her
into changing into a gorilla and punching him, which inadvertently allowed him
to crash into Ant-Man. Prodigy continued wondering how a monkey ever belonged
among them, and Speedball knocked Prodigy through the wall just as Red-9 was
showing in Maddy and Justin Baldwin. The Baldwins soon left, disappointed that
Speedball wasn't their true son. As the cadets went to train, Speedball was
kicked out of the Initiative.

(Avengers: The Initiative#14) - 3-D Man showed up at the Initiative base,
claiming there was an invasion of shape-shifters.

(Avengers: The Initiative#15) - 3-D Man panicked and made a hasty retreat.

(Avengers: The Initiative#15/Secret Invasion#3)- Soon, the Stark
technology in the base was rendered inert and Yellowjacket announced the Skrulls
had attacked New York. The recruits, under Gauntlet's command, were thrown
into action. The recruits fought a deadly
battle, alongside the Young Avengers, against the Skrulls in New York City and were quickly overwhelmed.

(Avengers: The Initiative#17/Secret Invasion#5) - The cadets and their allies,
in Nick Fury's safehouse while regrouping, heard
"Yellowjacket" announce the Skrull invasion to the world on the television.

(Avengers: The Initiative#18/Secret Invasion#6) - Prodigy nearly came to blows with Wiccan
when he feared Hulkling might be a sleeper agent, but Crusader inspired them to
put aside their differences. Fury then moved them in to final battle, joining
dozens of other heroes and villains in the final battle for New York City.

(Avengers: The Initiative#19/Secret Invasion#7-8) - The massive battle
continued.
As the battle ended, Crusader rushed after the Yellowjacket Skrull back to Camp
Hammond, where he was killed along with the other Skrulls by the Skrull Kill
Krew. The Wasp was killed in the battle.

(Avengers: The Initiative#20) - Gorilla Girl and the others watched as 3-D Man
left, angry with him for killing Crusader.

(Avengers: The Initiative featuring Reptil#1) - Batwing was put onto a team led by Tigra to catch Stegron, who was attacking SHIELD bases all over the United States. After picking up and helping train Reptil, the team failed in their first attempt to catch Stegron in South Dakota. They later caught him in Wyoming.

(Avengers: The Initiative#21) - Prodigy was disgusted to open his
graduation papers and learn he was to remain for further training, alongside
Sunstreak, due to his criminal record.

(Avengers: The Initiative#23) - Prodigy helped with the cleanup at Camp Hammond after the battle with Ragnarok. He was later present when Norman Osborn arrived to shut down Camp Hammond forever.

(Avengers: The Initiative#25) - Osborn took Prodigy to the Nevada Initiative headquarters of the Heavy Hitters. He offered him leadership of the team if, and only if, Prodigy would answer directly to him and follow all orders without question. Prodigy met his new teammates, Nonstop and Telemetry, and heard Gravity, the former team leader, get moved to another team.

(Avengers: The Initiative#28 (fb) - BTS) - When Osborn put assassin-for-hire Boomerang on the team disguised as the hero Outback, and Outback started stealing from the Heavy Hitters Casino, Nonstop complained about the Initiative's direction to the media and then made a run for it.

(Avengers: The Initiative#28) - The Heavy Hitters pursued Nonstop across the desert and Prodigy did his best to resolve things without violence, but Outback started a fight even as the media gathered around them. They apprehended Nonstop, but Prodigy couldn't let her take the fall. He outed Outback and Osborn, and announced to the news that the Heavy Hitters were succeeding from the Initiative. When the Force of Nature (Aqueduct, Skybreaker, Sunstreak, Terraformer) attacked, Prodigy thought Sunstreak would be on his side, but she proved her loyalty to Osborn by firing multiple flame bursts at Prodigy. The Heavy Hitters quickly defeated the Force of Nature, but then the U-Foes (Ironclad, Vapor, Vector, X-Ray), Freedom Force (Challenger, Cloud-9, Equinox, Think Tank), members of the Shadow Initiative (Badd Axe, Ringer (Keith Kraft), Warbow), and other trainees (Brother Grimm, Griffin, Scorcher, Razor-Fist) attacked. Within seconds, the Avengers Resistance (Debrii, Gauntlet (Joseph Green), Justice (Vance Astrovik), Night Thrasher (Donyell Taylor), Rage, Scarlet Spider, Slapstick, Tigra, Ultragirl) arrived, briefly battled, and swiftly departed with Nonstop and Telemetry, though Night Thrasher was captured. Prodigy, initially angry at Justice's team for trying to intervene, chose to remain behind and make a final stand for himself.

Slingers#1 shipped with four
different covers, each spotlighting one of the four leads. More than
just a cover gimmick, each variant included different story pages,
eight near the beginning of the issue giving a different interlude with
each character plus eight near the end of the issue with a different
view of their actions during the train disaster. The pages specific to
the Prodigy variant are noted as they appeared along with the pages
carried in each version.

Prodigy received a brief profile
in the Civil War: Battle Damage Report handbook, and as a member of the "Slingers" in the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #10.

It's possible, although
unconfirmed, that Prodigy's second cape was created by Hornet, who
created new armaments for himself and Ricochet following their
encounter with Mephisto.

One final note about "The
Slingers": Although the team has been referred to as "The Slingers" in
several Marvel titles (including both Civil War handbooks) and by
several Marvel characters, at no point in the actual Slingers comic did
Dusk or the others refer to themselves by this name. Johnny Gallo
(Ricochet) affirmed this in Runaways II#1. It's obvious why the name is
used for the characters (writers mistakingly assuming it was the group
name), but there's been no in-story explanation for its use. The only
incident where the name was used as a title for Dusk and company in
their presence was in Contest of Champions (as noted
in the Group
Membership listing), and since the characters did not refer to
themselves as such, it is used loosely as a name for the group (at least by those of us who remember it was never supposed to be the team name and stubbornly hold to that).

Sickly and bound to her wheelchair,
Prodigy's grandmother heard that her grandson had returned home after
crawling
from the wreckage of the Grand Royale hotel. Prodigy was likewise
concerned his
grandmother would be worried about his frequent absences.